Stoker



Nov. 19, 1929. w. J. WOODCOCK Q 1,736,564

STOKER Filed Nov. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l g-vwewtoz WJ. Woaacac/c Nov. 19, 1929. w. J. wboococK STOKER Filed Nov. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

awwentoz Woodcock @51 elbtomug mnww 0M4 Patented Nov. 19, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STOKEB Application filed November 6, 1926. Serial No. 146,582.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces and in particular to furnaces employing underfeed stokers for boilers and the like.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a fuel retort and grate mechanlsm which may be easily installed in or removed from a furnace without removing any of the walls of the furnace, but which instead may be passed into the combustion chamber through the usual doors provided 1n furnaces of this type.

It is a further object to form the fuel supporting units and fire grate units of detachable sections any of which may be readlly removed from the fire chamber, as for re-.

placements or repairs,

Other objects relate to prov sions for more satisfactory feeding and burning of the fuel, Q protecting the units against being burned out, and reducing the amount of attentlon required by providing for the ready removal of ashes and clinkers.

These and other objects will appear more fully from the following specification when considered in connection with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse sectlonal v ew of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention, parts being in elevatlon.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 1, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the furnace, parts r being remove and parts ,bemg 1n sectlon and being taken substantially on the llne 33 of Fig. 2. Y

Fig. 4 is'a'perspective view of one of the vertical retort forming sections showing a removed ate unit and tuyere.

Fig. 5 1s a perspective view of one of the bars forming thetgrates.

Fig. 6 isa transverse sectional view of a r grate bar taken substantlally on the line 6-6 of Fig. -1.

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan v1ew of one of the tu eres, and p v ig. 8 is a front elevational VIEW," parts being in section, showing a modified form of my invention.

It has heretofore been the practice in installing underfeed stokers for boilers to entirely dismantle the furnace by removing some of the fire-brick walls before the feeding mechanism and fuel supporting and grate mechanism could be introduced into the combustion chamber. This necessarily required a considerable length of time and a large amount of work as one wall of the furnace always had to be completely torn down and rebuilt in installing the mechanism. Furthermore when any portion of the retort or grate mechanism was injured, as for example by reason of the intense heat of the combustion chamber, it was necessary to put out the fires and remove the entire mechanism before the defect could be remedied.

I have overcome these difliculties according to the present construction so that within a period of a few hours the fuel supporting and burning elements of a furnace may be entirely removed and replaced with others or any part of the mechanism may be removed for replacement or repairs and the removed unit replaced or substitution made.

The furnace shown herein comprises the usual tubular boiler 10 (diagrammatically illustrated), the side walls 12 of the combustion chamber being formed with the usual fire-brick or other heat-resisting substance. The front wall of the furnace portions of which are indicated at 14 is formed with the usual access openings 16 normally closed by the doors 17 these openings permitting access tothe fire chamber for the purpose of removing clinkers or for other purposes. A central opening is provided adjacent the lower portion of the front wall 14 through which the fuel is introduced by means of a plunger (not shown) in the usual manner where underfeed stokers are employed. The usual bridge wall 18 is placed at .the rearward portion of the fire chamber 20 to deflect the hot, vapors of combustion upwardly toward the boiler 10. The construction thus far referred to is of any usual or well known type and forms no part of my present invention.

For the purposes of my invention I rovide a series of separable vertical sections 22 preferably formed as castings and which are designed to be placed in engagement one with the other and supported upon a suitable base 23 inclined slightly from the forward to the rearward portion of the combustion chamber, as indicated in 2. These Vertical sections are formed with central chair nelledportions 24 which portions, when the mechanism is installed in a furnace, form a V-shaped fuel retort 25 as shown for example in Fig. l. The sections 22 are provided with side openings 26 forming air passageways upon opposite sides of the retort 25 for providing passages for forced draft for the-"fur nace will appear more fully below. The upper portions of the sect-ions beside the channelled portions 24 are preferably formed of H section for receiving the removable tuyeres 28 on each side of thecentral transverse partitions as shown in Fig. 4,

The tuyeres 28 are formed with base portions 29 receivable within the side openings of the sections 22 and with the upper or outer head portions 80, air passages 81 extending longitudinally along the tuyeres and terminating in diverging air oassages 32 preferably arranged on both sides of the tuyeres. It

is obvious that when a forced draft is introduced into the a1rpassages26 from any" 'zuitable means that this draft will be emitted from the outlet openings ofthe tuyeres at points along the upper side portions of the retort 25, thus assuring an intense heat being applied to the fuel prior to its passage onto the grate bars hereinafter referred to. The tuyeres 28 protect the sections 22 from the direct heat of the combustion chamber.

he end sections 22, 22 22 and 22 forming the retort 25 are of modified construction n order to provide a support for the fuel f eding mechanism in the ower portion of the retort and in order to force the fuel upwardly out of the retort. As indicated in Fig. 2, the sections 22 to 22 provide the nclined end wall 34 for the retort as well as the feed rodsupport 35. The rearward sections 22 and 22.are preferably closed at the r upper portion as indicated in Fig. 3 so thatcthey will not be supplied with the forced air draft-present in the remaining sections. The forced draft enters the passageways 26 from the air inlet 36' provided with any suitable form of blower for giving the necessary draft. If desired openings 25 may be provided onone or more ofthe sections 22 to permit a certain amount of air to passbeneath the grates to cool' them andlto promote combustion.

The-sides. of the vertical sections 22are provided with red supporting hooks or loops 38. designed to receive the longitudinal rods 40which extend outwardly beyond the forware and rearward ends of the combustion chamber andcare providedwith suitable nuts for securing the: sections togetherj The forly supporting the outer or free ends thereof and at their highestpoints extend substantially to the'same "height as the tuyeres 28, the bars,in the construction disclosed, being inelinedoutwardly so as to give a certain fall tothe fuel passing from the retort onto the grate bars although under certain conditions this inclination isnot required. The upper surfaces of the grate bars are preferably spaced and may, if desired, be provided with the usual openings permitting the passage of air upwardly through the "rates to the ignited fuel. r

The grate bars 44 are provided with ex tensions 44 for supporting rotatable ash discharging members 48 and side plates 50. The members 48 are preferably formed as rectangular rotatable'rods with circular portions supported in sockets in the extensions 44, the corners of the squared elements 48 being broken or otherwise irregularly formed to cause removal of a certain amount of ash when the elements are rotated. The side plates 50 supported in the outersockets of the extensions 4'4 are preferably inclined outwardly and upwardly so as to maintain the fuel on the grates and out'of engagement with the sidewalls 12. The inclination of the plates 50 preVents't-hem' from being subjected directly to'the radiated heat of the ignited fuel. The plates 50, as shown in the drawings, are apertured to permit the passage of air therethrough into the combustion chamber for maintaining the plates in a relatively cool condition and for promoting combustion in the combustion chamber.

Accordingto the above described construction it will' be seen that the fuel supporting means and grates are formed of separate units which may be readily passed inwardly into the combustion chamber through either the access doors l7 orrthrough the fuelfifeeding. door covered bythe' plate 42. The entire mechanism for supportingthe fuel; within the combustion ehamber including the retort forming sections 22, the tuyeres 28, the grate bars 43. and 44: and side plates 50 may thus be removed for replacement in case themechanism is severely damaged, or any one unit oftheimechanisin maybe removed and replaced with a similar unit. The forced draft from the tu'yeresw28; adjacent the'si'des of armam- 25: assures an intense heat: at the point where the fuel is beingxpa'ssed from the retort onto the grates, the downwardly inclined grate sections 43 and 44 and upwardly inclined side plates 50 assisting the passage of the fuel and ash toward the ash-removing element 48, the plates 50 preventing the fuel or ash from coming into contact with the side walls 12 of the furnace.

In Fig. 8 there is illustrated a modified form of my invention wherein the vertical sections 22, tuyeres 28 and grate bars 44 are of the same construction as in the first form of my invention except that none of the grate bars are provided with the extensions 44. In this form of the invention the upwardly and outwardly inclined side plates 50 are hinged adj acenttheir upper edges and are movable into engagement with or away from the outer edges of the bars 44, being controlled in this movement by means of any suitable crank arms as shown for example at 51. The hinged side plates 50, which are preferably apertured' as in the first form of the invention, thus serve to limit the outward movement of the fuel along the grate elements 44, the ash being removable betweeff the plates 50 and grate elements 44 when the crank arms 51 are moved to permit the displacement of the side plates 50.

While I have shown and described herein certain specific constructions, it is obvious that these are intended merely to illustrate the invention and that other forms may be employed so long as they fall within the scope of the appended claims. For example any desired number of sections 22 and aprons 44 may be employed dependent upon the size of the completed furnace, and since all of the main sections 22 are of identical construction smaller or larger furnaces may be built out of the same type of unit thus reducing the necessary supply of material on hand for original installations or replacements.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a furnace construction, a supporting structure comprising a plurality of separable vertical sections, grate bars removably supported by said supporting structure and extending outwardly therefrom, and side plates extendin outwardly and upwardly from positions ac jacent the outer edges of said grate bars for the purpose set forth.

2. In a furnace construction, a supporting structure comprising a plurality of separable vertical sections, grate members removably supported by said supporting structure, side plates extending outwardly and upwardly from positions adjacent the outer edges of said grate members and means for discharging ash at oints adjacent the junction of said grate mem ers and said side plates.

3. In a furnace construction, a plurality of hollow vertical sections formed with side chambers and a central channel portion providing air passages and a fuel retort, respectively, when said sect-ions are placed in contiguous relation in said furnace, said sections being formed with vertically arranged channels, the channels of adjacent sections coacting to form openings extending from said air passages to points without said sections, and removable tuyeres removably mounted in said channels and formed with air ducts extending outwardly through the same for permitting the discharge of air from said air passages to points without said sections.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 5th day of November, A. D. 1926.

WILLARD J. WOODOOOK. 

